[waizen]

Seahorse: thank you so much for your lengthy response. I have actually bookmarked this thread (the page, actually) because of this one post of yours alone. It really hit a note with me. And, don't apologize for the length...you had a lot of valued information here.

This is why I loved it:

In my case, I've been involved with IM since I was a teenager also. I'm 52, so that was a pretty long time ago. There have been large periods of times in my life when it wasn't part of my life, but I've always felt it as true as a core belief. Lately (the last two or so years) I've felt, what I can only describe, as a 'quickening' of sorts, where I've really been putting some time and study into this.

I've had quite a bit of success with manifestations but for whatever reason, money has always been a stumbling block for me. This has always bothered me.

I come from a family where most of the members have done well, financially. Not super rich, mind you, but quite comfortable. My family members all get along great, no one dislikes anyone else and everyone can be thought of as a decent person. Everyone's financial status can be thought of as having been earned by hard work (or smart work) but at least the common thread is that everyone has what they have.

...and then there's me...

I'm also a very decent person, the proverbial 'nice guy.' I work really hard. I'm smart, having earned a couple of degrees and such. Like all members of my family, I have a great work ethic, etc. But, it seems that money keeps alluding my existence. I'm not, in any way, in poverty level, but I find myself just scraping by. At the end of the month, after paying my bills, I actually just scape by, with only about a few dollars left in my bank account. Always just enough. Not more...not less. If I ever do happen on a few extra bucks somehow, then something happens to spend it for me. That's the time, for example, when my dog will do something stupid and spend that money with vet bills or something. You get the picture.

It's like trying to bring an airplane in for a safe landing but just barely making it to the edge of the landing strip...every time. Very stressful.

Now, after a long time looking at myself, I can safely state that I don't have any kind of negative thoughts about money. I don't think wealthy people are bad in any way. I'm actually happy for anyone who has money...I just wish I was one of them.

So, if I don't have any kind of negative image of rich people, then what? I kept thinking on this and thinking on this for a really long time.

Then, a simple thing hit me the other day: it's not that money is bad...just the opposite. It's that I have money up on too high a pedestal! With this realization, I examined my emotions whenever I think of me getting a high level of wealth. What I found is that the emotions are very similar to those whenever I encounter another person who I happen to have on a high pedestal.

For instance, if I anticipate being in the same room as a respected celebrity, or a former lover who I still have feelings for, there is a certain excited form of anxiety I feel. That is my closest description of what I feel whenever I think of myself actually having wealth. That anxiety then translates into myself not relating with being a wealthy individual. In fact, it directly manifests what I do think of myself: one who just gets by.

People with wealth and nice things don't think of those things as a big deal. Those surroundings have become a regular part of their environment; a regular part of their daily view. In my case, I have a problem taking the 'big deal' out of wealth. I need to start feeling it as being a part of my current life, in a natural way.

What you wrote basically said to me that I need to tackle my self image of what kind of person I am. Actually, I've been theorizing this for a while and your post solidified it.

What I've been doing is to realize that I am a member of my family...not the financial outcast (which is how I currently see myself). The techniques of visualization are not as important as what my daily core feelings are about my situation.

I have to go about my day, being a wealthy person. Making it a core belief which will eventually translate into a vibrational shift.

So, again, thank you. I'm glad you joined the forum and I can see you have a lot to offer.